BBC - A History of the World - Object : Passport belonging to Jew fleeing Russia

Russian Empire Passport belonging to Philip Pollecoff. Gwynedd Museum & Art Gallery, Bangor

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Thousands of Jewish families emigrated from 'the Pale' during the Pogroms of 1881-1884 and 1903-1906Philip Pollecoff's passport is the beginning of the story of how he, and thousands of Jews fled eastern Russia following the ant-semitic pogroms of 1881-1884 and 1903-1906 in which several thousand Jews are thought to have been killed. Fleeing deteriorating conditions in Poland and looking for better economic opportunities, many families such as the Pollecoff's came to settle in the UK and US to live and work. Jewish communities in north Wales which included a synagogue, were established in Bangor (1894), Colwyn Bay (1942), Llandudno (1905), Rhyl (1897) and Wrexham (1893). Philip Pollecoff settled in north Wales, where he set up shops in Holyhead, Pwllheli, Blaenau Ffestinog, Bethesda and Bangor. Other items in the museum relating to the Polecoffs' story include a British naturalisation certificate, shop account books and letters as well as items from the Bangor Synagogue which closed in the 1980s.

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3 comments
1. At 13:59 on 24 August 2010, Ph1l1p wrote:
I'm just stunned by this - Philip Pollecoff was my great grandfather
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2. At 23:32 on 24 August 2010, Einekel wrote:
My great grandfather too.This is not a museum piece nor merely "passport of Jew fleeing Russia "(a rather derogatory headline) but the documentary record of our family's settelement in the UK and we are the living testamony of the Jewish ethos and values that Philip P brought with him from Eastern Europe
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3. At 19:32 on 25 August 2010, Jan8tte wrote:
My great grandfather as well. Explains why two of my cousins are called Philip. We should have a way of contacting each other.
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